Reclining attachment for chairs.



F. E. .BARNIGKLBl REOLINING ATTACHMENT FOB. CHAIRS. APPLIoATmn riLnn-Aus. '1, 1907.

Patented Oct. 6, 1908.

' nection with theaccompanying drawing, isV

` UNITRDSTATRS `PArRivr rien.

FRANK El RARNIOKLH, or ROCHESTER, NEWHAMPSHIRE, ASSIGNORTO FRANK S.BARBIAN,

OF ROCHESTER, nizw HAMPSHIRE.

f REcLiNINGATTAcHMENT FOR CHAIRS. Y

'i No. 900,077.

I j Speccation oflLetters Patent.

Patentea'oct. o, 190s.

Application ,inea August 17,1907. serial No. 387,420.

To all whom it 'may concern:

Be it known that I,`FRANH E. BARNioKLE, a citizen of the' UnitedStates', residing `at Rochester, county of Stratford, and State of NewHampshire, have inventedv an Improvement in Reclining Attachments forChairs, of which the following description, iii-cona specitication, likeletters onV the drawing V a` novel .attachment4 for chairs which willfirmly support an ordinary chair iii-a reclinf4 ing position. The deviceis arranged to `be attached to any chair, and whenV so attached a personsitting in the cliairmay v tilt thechair back and the chair ,will` befirmly snp ported in its tilted position. 1 5

I will first describe one embodiment of my invention and then pointout`the novel fea-` tures thereof in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figurefl is a perspective view of a chairhavingmy-attachment apf plied thereto, said view showing` the chair intilted position; Fig. 2 shows the `position of the attachment when itisfnot in use;` Figs.

.3 and v4 are detail views of thehinge by which the attachment issecured to the chair. Fig. 5 isa plan view of the `rest, 17 showing aportion of the `frame fto `which the rest, is secured.

My improved `attachment ycomprises the brace 3 which is arranged to behinged to the back of the chair. This bracey carries two separate restswhich are adapted torest "on Y the floor when the attachment is in use.In

the preferred embodimentof my invention this brace is formed Vfrom apiece ofwire bent to constitute the two side arms 4 which are connectedby the` cross portion 5.

Attached `to the `upper end on each Aside arm 4 is a hinge member 6which is hinged to a coinplemental hinge member `7. The

hinge member 7 is provided with the body 8 that is adapted to be Screwedto the back of the chair, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. This' hinge member7 has the two ears 9 between which is received the ear 10 on the hingemember 6, said ears being connected by the usual pintle pin 11. v Tostiienand strengthen the hinge `member 7 I form it4 with the twostitfening flanges 12 one on either side thereof between which one ofthe screws 13 may be received. Said hinge member 7 is also provided withthe shoulder or flange 14 .Y which coperates with the shoulders 15 `onthe member 6 to limit the swinging move nient of the brace 3. I haveshown the arms 4 of the brace as screw-threaded into the hinge member 6,although said arms might .beconnected to said hinge members in anyVsuitable way without departing from the invention.

. The brace sustains two rests 17 which are preferably made of rubber Orsome other materialA which will have good frictional engagement with thefloor. The advantage of as each having the open slot 18 in which the rodor wire formingA the brace is received,

vsaid shoes being retained in place by one or more proj ections orbuttons 19 formed on the `rest or shoe above the wire. I prefer to placethese shoes at the corners of the brace., that is, at the ends of thecross piece `5, as shown in the drawings, because when said shoes arethus located they embrace both the lower portiono'f the upright arms andthe end portions vof the cross piece 5, and thus they are firmly held`on the brace and prevented y from turning thereon. invention, however,'is.notlimited to placing them in this particular position.

. Inapplying the device to a chair the attachment will be placed withthe rests' on `the `looradjacent to the rear legs of the chair and thetwo hinge members will then be screwed to the chair at the proper point.Whenever it is desired to tilt back in the chair the brace maybe swungbackwardly as faras the stop 14 will permit and held in this positionwhile the chair is tilted until the rests or shoes` are brought againstthe floor. The brace will then firmly maintain the chair in suchposition so long as the chair is occupied.

'By using a brace of the shape shown,

which has two rests thereon separated from each other avery tirm bearingis provided for the chair and all danger of the chair tipping sidewiseis prevented.

It is sometimes desirable to provide for tilting the chair to a greateror less extent, and to permit this, I have provided my device withadjustable stops which limit the swingingmovement of the brace. For thispurpose, I have herein shown set screws 20 threaded into the stop orflange 14 so that l adapted to engage the shoulder or abutment bysetting up these screws more or less the distance through which thebrace may be swung can be varied and thus the angle to which the chaircan be tilted.

I have also shown a cord in the form of a chain 22 which is attached atone end to the center of the cross piece 5as at 23, and the other end ofwhich may be secured to the bottom of the chair beneath the seat 24.This chain prevents the rear legs of the chair from slipping forwardlyon the floor. It is not essential to my invention that this chain beemployed, however.

My attachment is so constructed that when the chair stands upright itwill drop by its own weight into the position shown in Fig. 2, and insuch position is entirely out of the way and does notinterfere with anyordinary use to which the chair may be put.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention the brace is so shaped thatwhen it is folded, the rests 17 lie against the chair legs, but theouter edges of said rests do not project beyond the outer faces of thechair legs. Said rests, therefore, serve to prevent the brace frominjuring or marring the chair when the brace is folded.

I have illustrated herein one embodiment only of my invention and havenot attempted to show all forms in which it may be made.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:-

1. An attachment for chairs comprising a brace made from a rod bent intoU-shape and having at the end of each arm a hinge member provided withan abutment face or shoulder 15, a complemental hinge member pivoted toeach of the lirst-named hinge members, means to secure each complementalhinge member to the back of a chair, and an adjustable stop screwcarried by each complemental hinge member and face of the other hingemember thereby to limit backward swinging movement of the brace.

2. The combination with a chair, of a brace hinged to the back side ofthe chair, said brace comprising two connected side arms, a hinge memberG at the upper end of each arm, a complemental hinge member pivoted toeach hinge member 6, each hinge member T having a body portion forattachment to the chair and strengthening ribs connected by thetransverse flange 14 and a stop screw carried by said flange and adaptedto engage the hinge member to limit the backward swinging movement ofthe brace.

The combination with a chair, of a brace hinged to the back side of thechair, said brace comprising two parallel side arms 4L connected attheir lower extremities by a cross piece 5, a rest at each end of thecross piece, each rest having an open slot to receive the angle of thebrace, and projections to overlie the brace at the angle and retain therest in position.

Ll. The combination with a chair, of a brace hinged to the back side ofthe chair, said brace comprising two connected side arms, a hinge member6 at the upper end of each arm, each hinge member having the shoulder15, a complemental hinge member 7 pivoted to each hinge member 6, eachcomplemental hinge member having a body portion for attachment to thechair and a transverse flange, and stop screws :uljustably mounted insaid flange and adapted to engage said shoulder 15 for limiting the backward swinging movement of the brace.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANK E. BARNICKLE. lVitnesses LoUIs C. SMi'rH,

MARGARET A. DUNN.

